How North Carolina gives…

How does North Carolina stack up to the rest of the country when it comes to charitable giving? A new report by The Chronicle of Philanthropy[1] ranks the Tar Heel state 9th on the list of 50 states, claiming nearly $4.3-billion in contributions.

The Chronicle’s study examined giving data by ZIP code and by income level in every city and town in the United States, factoring in exact dollar amounts released by the Internal Revenue Service.

Based on that data, they found North Carolinians earning between $50,000 – $99,000 gave 7.2% their discretionary income to charitable causes. Those earning between 100,000 – $199,000 gave 5.2% to charity.

Looking at county-level data, Mecklenburg and Wake Counties were among the most generous, ranking in the top 50 of U.S. counties for total contributions.

Other interesting findings from the national study include:

The rich aren’t the most generous. Middle-class Amer­i­cans give a far bigger share of their discretionary income to charities than the rich. Households that earn $50,000 to $75,000 give an average of 7.6 percent of their discretionary income to charity, compared with an average of 4.2 percent for people who make $100,000 or more.

The 1 percent really are different. Rich people who live in neighborhoods with many other wealthy people give a smaller share of their incomes to charity than rich people who live in more economically diverse communities.

Red states are more generous than blue states. The eight states where residents gave the highest share of income to charity went for John McCain in 2008. The seven-lowest ranking states supported Barack Obama.

Tax incentives matter. State policies that promote giving can make a significant difference. At least 13 states now offer special tax benefits to charity donors